Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PACKAGE WITH DIVIDER TO SEPARATE CONTENTS,
AND METHOD OF FILING THE PACKAGE AT HIGH SPEED
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a divider for a package. In particular, the
present disclosure relates to a divider for a tampon package that also
includes warnings
to safety information relating to the tampons, and is included as part of the
package. The
present disclosure further provides a method of filling the package at a fast,
or high
speed.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires certain devices
to have "specific labeling, which may include not only package labeling, but
informational literature, patient release forms, performance testing, and/or
specific
tolerances or prohibitions on labeling, but informational literature, patient
release forms,
performance testing, and/or specific tolerances or prohibitions on certain
ingredients."
(http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/DeviceRegulationandGuidance/Overview
/DeviceLabeling/GeneralDeviceLabelingRequirements/ucm052182.htm, last visited
October 19, 2009)
There are special labeling requirements for certain devices, one of which is
menstrual tampons. The labeling requirements for tampons are mostly directed
to
relevant information about Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). 21 C.F.R. 801.430.
Tampons are often sold in boxes of a dozen or more. For years, all commercial
tampon manufacturers have included paper inserts, specifically information
booklets, in
boxes of tampons, which communicate both safety and recommended usage
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information pertaining to menstrual tampons. (See Fig. 1) The inserts are
usually
wrapped around a group of tampons during the packaging operation, and the
group of
tampons are "pushed" into the insert during assembly of the package.
This traditional method of conveying information using a paper
insert/information
booklet is both uneconomical and operationally inefficient, as the packaging
machines
will often jam. The paper used for inserts is thin, and folded in several
places, so
including the insert in packages of tampons produced at high speeds involves
mechanical and operational complexity. Conditions as commonplace as high heat
or
1o humidity, or even minor folds or tears in the paper, can cause errors in
the packaging
process, which lead to frequent machine shutdowns and product rejections. This
process thus involves unnecessary cost, scrap, and waste. Accordingly, there
is a need
to overcome these disadvantages. There is also a need to fill such a package,
or a
number of such packages, at a high speed.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present disclosure provides a way of communicating safety and usage
information for medical devices, in particular TSS information pertaining to
menstrual
tampons, which avoids the above-discussed disadvantages of currently available
methods. The present disclosure provides a special "divider" that is a part of
the
package containing individually wrapped tampons. The divider contains
essentially the
same safety and recommended usage information as that provided in the more
traditional package insert/information booklet. Since the divider would be
part of the
actual package containing the individually wrapped tampons, inclusion of the
divider
would be trivial to the packaging operation. There would be no loss of
information,
lower mechanical complexity, less labor, and lower scrap. Also, due to the
features of
the process of filling the package with the divider, more packages are filled
per unit
time.
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Thus, in one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a package having a
package body having an opposable top, a bottom, and a wall, to define an
interior
space, the interior space for receipt of a plurality of products, and a
divider in the interior
space, wherein the divider separates the products into at least two separate
groups of
products, and wherein the divider has information relating to the products
printed
thereon, the information being displayed prominently when the package body is
opened
In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides A method of filling a
package with a plurality of products. The method comprises providing the
plurality of
io products to a feeder, separating the plurality of products, placing each of
the separated
products into a desired orientation, individually wrapping each of the
separated
products, to form a plurality of wrapped products, collating a number of the
wrapped
products into a group of products, storing a second number of the groups of
products in
a buffer, and placing two of the groups of products in the package. During the
placing
step, a divider is inserted between the groups of products.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 shows a top view of a tampon package according to the prior art;
Fig. 2 shows a top view of a tampon package according to the present
disclosure;
Fig. 3 shows a front view of the divider of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of the package manufacturing process of the
present disclosure;
Fig. 5 shows a diagram of the collating step of the process shown in Fig. 4;
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Fig. 6 shows a diagram of the buffer step of the process shown in Fig. 4;
Fig. 7 shows a second diagram of the buffer step of the process shown in Fig.
4;
and
Fig. 8 shows a diagram of the cartoner step of the process shown in Fig. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
to Referring to the drawings Fig. 1, there is shown a conventional tampon
package.
Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the present disclosure provides a divider 10 that
can be
included in a package 20 of tampons 25, during filling of package 20 with
tampons 25.
Divider 10 has a body 12 and a flag 14, which is connected to body 12 with
perforated
edge 16. Any information about the products, such as tampons 25, within
package 20,
in this case tampons 25, can be printed on flag 14 and/or body 12 of divider
10. Flag 14
can bend over the tampons 25 in package 20, which satisfies the FDA
requirement that
the warning information be prominently displayed when package 20 is opened. As
will
be discussed in greater detail below, the use of divider 10 eliminates a
significant
amount of the misfeeds that occur with currently used paper inserts, and
therefore
allows for much higher processing speeds and productivity.
In addition, divider 10 could serve a secondary but important additional role.
Divider 10 can also be used in "multipacks". These are packages 20 of tampons
25
having different absorbencies (e.g. regular, super etc.). Previously, when
packing
multipacks, tampons of one absorbency were grouped and placed into a sleeve.
Another group of tampons having a different absorbency would then be added to
the
sleeved group, and the two groups would be placed in a package together. The
paper
insert would then be placed over the two groups of tampons. (See Fig. 1) By
contrast,
with divider 10, there would be no need for such a complex packaging
operation.
3o Divider 10 would not only convey useful safety and recommended usage
information,
but also divide tampons 25 into groups. Thus, when used in a multipack,
divider 10 not
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only provides the above-discussed benefits over paper inserts, but also
reduces the
costs and processing steps associated with packaging tampons 25 in multipacks.
Divider 10 can be made of the same material as the stock that is used to make
package 20, which can be 20-point board. In different embodiments, divider 10
can be
made of 12-point board, or 10-point board. The present disclosure, however,
contemplates other types of materials for divider 10, such as other weights
and types of
cardboard, or paper.
io In traditional packaging methods, such as that used for the package shown
in
Fig. 1, the warning pamphlet or insert obstructs access to some of the
tampons. This
obstruction is an FDA requirement to ensure the consumer sees the warning
information printed on the insert (See Fig. 1). When the tampons are packaged,
a
plurality of individually wrapped tampons are presented to a cartoner. Just
before this
step, the insert is placed across and perpendicular to the opening of the
carton. Then
the tampons are pushed along, so that the insert forms a "c" fold across the
tampons,
and the tampons and "c"-folded pamphlet are pushed into the carton. As
previously
discussed, this literature insertion process can be a constant source of
machine
downtime, as the paper insert often causes machine jams. When a multipack is
produced, this adds a further level of complexity to the process, since the
tampons, a
separator, and the insert all have to be packaged together.
By contrast, in the high speed process of the present disclosure, divider 10
is
used. As previously discussed, divider 10 can have the required warning
information
printed thereon. Divider 10 also has perforated edge 16, so that flag 14 can
bend. This
satisfies the requirement that the consumer see the warning information upon
opening
package 20. The consumer can also tear off flag 14, and still keep the
remainder of
divider 10 in place to keep different tampons separate, which is helpful when
package
20 is a multipack. Although process 100 is described below in a tampon
packaging
3o application, process 100 can be useful in any packaging application where
it is desirable
to separate and/or provide information relating to the packaged products on a
divider.
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Referring now to Figs. 4 - 8, a high-speed packaging method 100 according to
the present disclosure is shown. The wrapping of tampons 25, and the placing
of them
into package 20 with divider 10, is a five step process, that has been found
to greatly
improve packaging speed. Method 100, represented in Fig. 4 and discussed in
greater
detail below, comprises a feeder 110 for separating and orientating the
tampons 25 to
be packaged, a wrapper 120 to wrap the individual tampons 25, a collator 130
for
separating tampons 25 into groups 26, a buffer 140 for storing a number of
groups 26 of
tampons 25 leaving the collator, and a cartoner 150 for packaging groups 26 of
io tampons 25 into package 20. As shown in Fig. 4, there can be two separate
lines 105
for feeding tampons 25 to cartoner 150. When method 100 is used to process a
multipack package 20, each of lines 105 can process a different type of tampon
25.
Feeder 110 separates and orientates tampons 25 in a desired direction. After
leaving feeder 110, tampons 25 are transferred to wrapper 120, where they are
wrapped individually. Tampons 25 are then transferred to collator 130.
Referring to Fig. 5, collator 130 collates tampons 25 into a group 26. The
amount of tampons 25 in group 26 will depend on the desired number of total
tampons
25 for package 20. A counting unit 125 just prior to collator 130 counts
tampons 25 into
group 26, as they leave wrapper 120, and delivers them to incline paddle
conveyer 131,
which holds group 26 between two paddles 132. This assures that there is no
gap or
missing tampon 25. Two adjacent paddles 132 define a paddle area 133 where the
group 26 of tampons 25 is kept, oriented in a single file row. When one paddle
area
133 is filled, conveyer 131 advances to the next empty paddle area 133. As
shown in
Fig. 5, a pair of adjacent paddles 132 remain equidistant from each other, so
that each
paddle area 133 retains the same thickness as it travels along paddle conveyor
131.
This feature is highly advantageous, since it is much easier to process
tampons
25 of group 26 when they are aligned in single file. In previously available
collators
employing conveyors and paddles, the products being collated were allowed to
loosely
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fill the space between paddles. As the conveyor went around a bend, the space
between adjacent paddles would grow, since the paddles would form a "v" shape.
The
products disposed in the space between the paddles would be loosely packed,
and
disorganized. When packaging tampons, this can be highly disadvantageous,
since it
makes processing the tampons more difficult and time-consuming. Collator 130
thus
overcomes these drawbacks.
Two paddle conveyors 131 can be used in method 100, corresponding to the
number of lines 105. Each paddle conveyor 131 can carry the same type of
tampon 25,
io or in the case where package 20 is a multipack, each paddle conveyor 131
can carry a
different type of tampon 25. Each paddle conveyor 131 can be programmed for a
different number or group 26 of tampons 25, if desired. Each of groups 26 in
each of
paddle areas 133 are then transferred to buffer 140.
Referring to Figs. 6-7, buffer 140 provides a time synchronization for each of
lines 105. Buffer 140 comprises a number of towers 141, which store groups 26
of
tampons 25 (after they are transferred from collator 130) between a series of
left
paddles 142 and right paddles 143. Paddles 142 and 143 are attached to belts
144 that
can move up or down towers 141. A group 26 rides in gaps 145 between
synchronized
left paddles 142 and right paddles 143 on each tower. Belts 144 lift the
groups 26,
leaving a portion of the middle area of the tampon 25 open/free. When one
tower 141 is
filled, a stripper conveyor 145 can move groups 26 of tampons 25 to subsequent
towers
141, by using a device (not shown) that can grab tampons 25 in the exposed
area.
Thus, buffer 140 can carry enough groups 26 of tampons 25 to keep lines 105
running in the event that any or all of them shut down (e.g., if there is a
machine jam or
a manufacturing defect that causes a shutdown). In one embodiment, there are
two
towers 141 for each of lines 105, but the present disclosure contemplates any
number
of towers 141 per line 105. In one embodiment, buffer 140 can store enough
groups 26
of tampons 25 to run the machine for four minutes, even when each or both of
lines 105
are stopped.
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Referring to Fig. 8, after leaving buffer 140, groups 26 of tampons 25 are fed
to
cartoner 150. Cartoner 150 places groups 26, which can be of different sizes
or
numbers, into package 20, with divider 10 between the groups 26. The filling
of package
20 starts when one of towers 141 is stripped of a first group 26, and that
group 26 is
delivered to a container 151. A leveling arm 152 then treats, or tamps down
group 26
within container 151. Divider 10 is then placed on top of this first group 26.
After the
first group 26 of tampons 25 are delivered, and divider 10 is in place, a
second group 26
of tampons 25 are added to container 151. Again, the tampons 25 are treated,
or
1o tamped down by leveling arm 152. An open package 20 is presented to
container 151,
first and second groups 26 of tampons 25, with divider 10 between them, are
pushed
into package 20. Flag 16 bends to one side, thus satisfying the requirement
that the
necessary warning information be shown upon the opening of package 20. The
flaps of
package 20 are then folded over and sealed.
The present disclosure having been thus described with particular reference to
the preferred forms thereof, it will be obvious that various changes and
modifications
may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention as defined in the appended claims.
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